Galicia's two major economic poles are

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

and

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, with A Coruña in the lead, producing an estimated 33.2% of

VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

receipts against 24.3% from Vigo. A third economic center is

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

, capital of Galicia. Other important cities are Ferrol and

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

. In recent years the distance has grown between the interior provinces,

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

and

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

, which are more rural and less developed, and the coastal provinces,

and

, particularly the areas situated along the axis of the A-9 Highway. There is also a growing economic sector in

Fair Trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

and alternative economy.

Background

Galicia is the fifth largest autonomous region in Spain by area, with its own language, and cultural traditions which, like

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

and the Basque Country, set it apart from the rest of Spain.

Development in the 20th century

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

was born in Galicia, however during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

(1936-1975) his government banned all regional languages (including Galician) from public use. During those years the region was neglected by the central government and lagged behind other regions during the

Spanish miracle The Spanish miracle ( es, el milagro español) refers to a period of exceptionally rapid development and growth across all major areas of economic activity in Spain during the latter part of the Francoist regime, from 1959 to 1974, in which GD ...

of the 1960s and 1970s.

Contemporary economy

Today, Galicia is a producer and manufacturer of several goods, including automobiles, ships, fashion garments and timber. Vigo produces 17% of all the automobiles manufactured in Spain. The port of Vigo is also important for shipping and seafood exports. Galician productivity of timber stands at 207.95 m3/k2.

Local related books

* Guisan, Maria-Carmen: Galicia 2000. Industria y empleo. University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Free on line at: http://www.usc.es/economet/galicia.htm, * Prada Blanco, Albino y Lago Peñas, Santiago (2009): "Galicia, unha economía europea 1986-2006", Vigo, Editorial Galaxia * Prada Blanco, Albino (coord.) (2007): "Globalización, competencia e deslocalización. Perspectivas dende Galicia", Santiago, Xunta de Galicia, https://web.archive.org/web/20140309112634/http://webs.uvigo.es/aprada/pdfs/Globalizacion%20competencia%20deslocalizacion.pdf * Prada Blanco, Albino (2004): "Economía de Galicia. Situación actual y perspectivas", Santiago, tresCtres * Prada Blanco, Albino (1999): "Economía de Galicia", Vigo, Edicións Xerais de Galicia

References

*Hulbert, Claudia. "OECD 28th Territorial Development Policy Committee." OECD. N.p., 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. Economy of Galicia (Spain) Galicia Galicia (Spain) {{Galicia-stub

Background

Development in the 20th century

Contemporary economy

Local related books

See also

References